'HOW DO ARTISTS

CONVEY A MESSAGE IN
THEIR WORK
HARRIET NEWMAN
In this personal study I am going to investigate body language and how artists
can convey a message through this and their chosen subjects and model in their
artwork. I hope to really discover how artists explore human emotion using mainly
digital media and lens based technology. I believe that one way they do this is by
focusing on body language.
I believe that body language throughout art history has been iconicity idolized to
express, contrast, visualize, and explore human emotions. The way in which we
(us humans) portray ourselves whether it be in different social situations or how
our various moods change the way we portray our body language and how artists
capture this.
As you read through my personal study, to me, it has become that of like an accor-
dion. As you start to read through and stretch open the accordion to let it breathe
its like its taking in new ideas and totally different strands of information that just
gets soaked in. Which is then squeezed out into the renement of my conclusion.
I will focus on contemporary artists such as Kako, Sam Janssen and artists like
Eugene Delacroix. I, myself, nd these artists to be inspiring when I consider my
own working practice. I also want to explore how they use their mediums to ex-
plore body language and then possibly draw comparisons between them. These
comparisons initially will be based upon the differences between the time periods
that these paintings were created.
INTRODUCTION
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CHAPTER ONE
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CHAPTER ONE
In this chapter I am intending to look into some ways the way artists
have shown a separation of people hasnt changed.
The art of the past no longer exists as it once did. Its authority is
lost. In its place there is a language of images. What matters now is
who uses that language for what purpose.
The ways of seeing - John Berger
In this quote John Berger is making a generalization and is saying
about how what were once the conventions of art pieces, its
changed, and in the process certain things have lost its authority.
This quote isnt in reference to a piece of work however it is from a
book entitled Ways of seeing by John Berger. From this quotation I
can start to understand the way of how to begin comprehending
how artists in the past and in the present use emotions to convoy
body language and additionally why they use it. Because In paint-
ings such as A Passing Cloud by Marcus Stone you can see there
is a distinct distance and difference between the two gures. Stone
conveys this through the use of chiaroscuro, contrasting dark to light
in conjunction with this the use of perspective aids the narrative
within piece. The woman is unsettled and alone. She is looking weak
and in need of support, but the man is sitting with his st clenched.
In contrast there is a signicant difference in the way Stone in 1891
has chosen to use body language of the two gures clearly in some
argument, than in that of some contemporary pieces placed onto
the internet that may not contain any or little to no meaning behind
them. For instance Sam Janssens work is a huge impact on my own
visual work however the reasoning behind his work is that he was
trying to nd the balance between realism and abstract (A quote
from a publication in the Tate modern whilst his work was exhibition-
ing).
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The book Ways of Seeing explores the ways in which we see things
and then how they were intended to be seen (by the artist). In the
opening chapters it really explores the movement in nudity paint-
ings. The writer expresses his ideas, especially in page 59 'the loss
of mystery occurs simultaneously with the offering of the means for
creating a shared memory'. I believe what he's trying to convey in
this quote is that with the age of 'the naked form' being exposed
publicly evidently growing the 'quirk', if you like, of seeing these
'sights' is slowly fading. Which means that how we, as the audience,
is seeing the piece, and in general art, is ever changing and our
'ways of seeing' for the artist are constantly changing and the artist
must keep up with this fact. Otherwise the art may die.
When looking back at my chapter I have set an intended outline I be-
lieve I have proven my argument. In some ways the way artists have
shown a separation of people hasnt changed, for example they still
may use space of two characters to show this and the emotions on
their faces will be distraught however I think It is the way in which
they use their mediums is how the change has become signicant
part of my study.
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A Passing Cloud by Marcus
Stone A Passing Cloud by
Marcus Stone
CHAPTER TWO - LONDON
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LONDON
To further my artistic knowledge and explore my theme i took my-
self on a adventure into London. Through my time in my adven-
ture trip in London, I did not only see specically certain things
that inspired me and my theme at galleries I attended, but things
that I saw on the streets. When I say this I am referring to the ac-
tivity which can be commonly known through the phrase People
Stalking. Although invasive as it is, it was in the interest of my per-
sonal study. So whilst in London I tried to conduct my own investi-
gation or some may say experiment. This study was about ob-
serving the way people around me did certain things, I wanted to
explore how people interact with each other and behave in cer-
tain situations - these were things such as:
Walking (paces)
Talking in groups (or twos)
People eating lunch
People looking at art installations/imagery/sculptures
etc...
What I found from looking into these things was that people tend
to change their whole image when somebody else comes into
the picture. Before you ask yourself, what have I just read?!, let
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me explain. Take yourself for example, you are sitting waiting for some-
one in a room, unexpectedly they come into the room and when you
greet them you may adjust your shirt; or dget within your self. Now
ask yourself why did you do that. Did you do it because you were plan-
ning to do that long before they came in, or where you uncomfortable
and had to try and regain you comfort in the situation? I believe that
from my ndings while in London people would apply this concept to
whilst they were out. Im not trying to state that this is a bad thing for
people to do. However I digress, This quick study I looked at whilst in
London was that of reective of the Selective Perception theory that
has been demonstrated through asking a audience in 1973 and then
again in 1980 by Morley. This theory contains three main ideas. These
ideas relate to how the audience can perceive a text. The three catego-
ries are broken up as such:
When you read a media text you can either be:
DOMINANT - agree to text as reasonable
OPPOSITIONAL - Audience Stuck to their guns when respond-
ing
NEGOTIATED - Audiences came to a middle grown within watch-
ing the piece.
The reason why I am interested in these theories is well because,
a) I agree with them, and b) they are an interesting observation
as to how we can look at art. Myself, I like to be quite stubborn
so I could be considered a oppositional viewer however, I could
explore my opinion of me being a negotiated viewer. As I am
making my study I have taken pieces main ideas but then
twisted these staple ideas to manipulate it be what I want to hear
and take away from the piece. These theories I have researched
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into help me understand why artists would not only just
make there work but also the meanings behind their work.
Throughout my time in London I viewed a lot of different kind of
mediums through art. These were ranging from animation to in-
situ street art. A main part of what I saw was at my visit to Frieze
London which featured diverse pieces. Nicola Lees is the curator
of the Frieze Foundation, she birthed a new program including
commissions that centers around ideas of play and governance,
which then led onto focusing on how these exchanges can be
brought to light through these contemporary art practices. A few
things caught my eye straight away whilst my rst walk around
the site. A piece that one of my 10 hour pieces was based
around was a piece by Ryan McGinley entitled You and My
Friends 4. It includes 48 c-prints which is hung 4x6 frames land-
scape. This piece is a complete opposite to a piece by Rob Pruitt
which includes a ock of uorescent orange safety cones which
was composed with a various amount of goggly eyes and punk
hair-styles. Some of the sculptures are expressing shock, some
are glum, and some look very confused. Back to Ryan McGinleys
piece, which revolves around 48 portraits of young persons play-
ing. Some are expressing joy, and on the other hand some are
not. However within all of this none of them are looking directly
into the camera. The images are brightly coloured and a collec-
tion of boys an girls who are smiling and not, are eager and with
wet or dry hair, head to chin in makeup. Conclusively they all
have one thing in common - they are basking for your attention.
This is something that came into play for my Final coursework
piece as I juxtaposed this idea.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do tempor incididunt ut la-
bore et dolore magna aliqua.
London Image Gallery
CHAPTER THREE - INSPIRATIONS
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CHAPTER THREE
This chapter is all about my in my main inspiration that I take from
my chosen artist. My main inspiration for my personal study in the
rst place was because of innovative pieces of work that did not
have a specic meaning placed upon them however I can take
away my own ideas from the pieces. Justin Bower does this in his
piece Panic Room. This incredible piece of work uses repetitive
textures and a a range of colours that link together the idea of
technology and the human form. His work links back to the origi-
nal idea within his work of Cubism.
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My post-human subjects play with the
boundaries separating the organic/
mechanic, human/non-human, interiority/
exteriority, and self/other binaries.
-Justin Bower -Artslant
The simulacrum is neither that which con-
ceals the truth, its is the truth which revels
theres is none.
-Jean Baudrillard
His work does have a deeper meaning -
looking into some theories that Jean Bau-
drillard has additionally. These are that we
as a culture have become one with media
and the line is now increasingly blurred be-
tween what is real life and projected
(Real life and online persona). Now its im-
portant to note that this idea of looking into
Baudrillards ideas is useful because the
modern day interpretation of this idea of
body language and how we portray our-
selves. An idea like this would not have ex-
isted at the time of where I would have
started my timeline of looking into Body lan-
guage in the 20th century as technologies
like these portrayed in Bowers work would
not have even been invented.
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Either tap, swipe, pinch to zoom in or out to view these image in
this interactive gallery
GALLERY 4.1 Justin Bowers Work Examples
My own work has developed signicantly whilst investigating into
my title of how do artists convey a message in their work. The rea-
soning to why is because by me looking into the reasoning why
Justin Bower does his work and therefore his main dedication to
doing his work is because of the theories and the message he is
trying to reiterate. What I believe that he is doing is show casing
his beliefs and putting those onto his work. I can explain the ways
this study has increased my development because it has added
understanding, context, grounding, and even a new level (which I
didnt even know about) which is a education of theories that as a
audience of media, surround us. This has resulted in me giving
whole heartedly more passion into my own work - because I am
making my own work include these features.
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The opening sequence for my final coursework piece
This is some of my own work that has
been inspired by the topics explored by
Kako and other artists I have looked
into.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
When I rst set out to write my personal study I set myself a goal of exploring into
how artists convey messages in their work conclusively, throughout my personal
study my ideas have drifted through main ideas but my study still stayed the same,
trying to nd something that inspires people on a different level. Whether that be
through the works message, or how it was composed (through digital technologies
etc.). There is also another level of theories that I have found whilst creating my Per-
sonal study which have fascinated me. These theories lead from research into stan-
dard media vocabulary and terms, but have become relevant to me and this inves-
tigation because of the links that my main artist, Justin Bower, has made. When I
rst set out to write my personal study I set myself a goal of exploring into how art-
ists convey messages in their work conclusively, throughout my personal study my
ideas have drifted through main ideas but my study still stayed the same, trying to
nd something that inspires people on a different level. Whether that be through
the works message, or how it was composed (through digital technologies etc.).
There is also another level of theories that I have found whilst creating my Personal
study which have fascinated me. These theories lead from research into standard
media vocabulary and terms, but have become relevant to me and this investiga-
tion because of the links that my main artist, Justin Bower, has made.
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The ways of seeing - John Berger
http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/trippack/activity_pre_bodyl
anugage.html
http://www.saatchigallery.com/artists/body_language/
http://caguas.mc.man.ac.uk/assets/les/discover-mag-unspoken-trai
l_aw.pdf
"Starting on a new project is like going into a dark room where you
don't know where the light switch is, but once you nd it, you know
that it's right"
-Simen Johan
Artbox Magazine Jan/Feb 2012
(In his ongoing series until the kingdom comes, Sien likes to explore
the human fondness of fantasies and dreams.)
"The Only person you should worry about pleasing is yourself"
-Dominique Falla
Artbox Magazine Jan/Feb 2012
(Also look at her work called 'Creativity is like, Totally awesome'. In-
spired by Stefan Sagmeister's "Things I have learned in my life).
(http://www.artslant.com/global/artists/show/124884-justin-bower)
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
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http://www.ickr.com/photos/44969049@N06/
http://www.widewalls.ch/justin-bower-interview/
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/81eJYBSWYcL._SL1500_.jpg
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UNTITLED
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A2 - PERSONAL STUDY:
'HOW DO ARTISTS CONVEY A
MESSAGE IN THEIR WORK?
HARRIET NEWMAN
HARRIETJNEWMAN@ME.COM